Footrest-paper container



March 3, 19 70 F. J. BAILEY v3,493,314

FOOTREST-PAPER CONTAINER Filed March 4, 1968 INVENTOR FARRELL J. BAILEY 7 ATTORN EYS United States Patent O 3,498,214 FOOTREST-PAPER CONTAINER Farrell J. Bailey, Box 357, Monon, Ind. 47959 Filed Mar..4, 1968, Ser. No. 710,004 Int. Cl. B65b 13/04; A47c 9/12 US. Cl. 10034 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination footrest and paper container, comprising a rectangular box having four walls, a floor, and a hinged cover, of a size in which newspapers may be stacked and accumulated. The floor of the box is solidly supported in grooves in the walls, above their bottom edges, and a string dispenser is mounted beneath the floor, with the string threaded through a hole in the floor for easy access. The walls are each provided with a central vertical stringretainer to hold two lengths of string cross-wise in the box ready to be tied about the accumulated bundle of papers. The string retainer on each wall comprises a dovetail groove, running from the top of the wall to the floor, and a slide of a triangular cross-section received in the groove. The back face of each slide is provided with a string receiving channel, and the angular inner face of each slide is provided with a notch to permit the user to grasp the slide for removing it from the dovetail groove. Thus, the strings lie across the floor and are held in the slide channels in the vertical walls with the string ends available at the top of the box. In a modification the strings are held by four spring clip-s on the floor adjacent the centers of the walls and by eyelets mounted at the upper edges of the walls, directly over the spring clips.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the present invention is to provide a convenient receptacle which will serve as an article of furniture, in which papers may be stacked after being read, and which will hold strings conveniently in position to tie the papers in a bundle when a sufficient quantity has been accumulated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention I provide a box having means therein for positioning two lengths of string to be used for packaging a stack of newspapers. The box comprises four walls and a floor, so dimensioned as to provide a container for neatly accumulating the papers. A lid, hinged to the upper edge of one of the walls and cushioned on its upper face, provides a cover for the box. Centered on the inner face of each wall are stringretaining means which position and hold the string across the floor of the box and up the walls. In one embodiment each wall is provided with an undercut groove extending from the floor to its upper edge, and the slides are received in an interfitting relation within the grooves. Each slide is channeled along its back face for receiving the string which is placed in the channels and stretched taut between the lower ends of each pair of opposed slides. The slides are removed when a stack of papers has been accumulated so that the string ends may be tied to provide a neat bundle of papers.

In a second embodiment of my invention the slides and grooves are replaced by spring clips which are mounted on the floor adjacent the center of each wall. The clips are provided with curved ends for receiving the string and holding it in place but are arranged to yield and release the string when the bundle is lifted out of the box. Attached near the upper edge of each Patented 3, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view, with portions broken away, of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the relationship between an undercut groove and its interfitting slide;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 and showing the channel and finger notch in the slide;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of my invention showing spring clips for holding the string on the floor of the device; and,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 and showing a side view of the spring clip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of my invention, as shown in FIGS. l3, comprises a rectangular box having a pair of vertically disposed parallel end walls 10 and 12 interconnected at their ends by a front wall 14 and a rear wall 16. The box is provided with a cover panel 18 attached to the upper edge of the rear wall 16 by a pair of hinges 20. Padding 21 is attached to the upper face of the cover panel to provide a cushion for the footrest. A floor panel 22 is attached to the walls near their lower ends and is received for support in a groove 24 cut in the inner faces of the walls. The box is supported on four legs 26 fixed to the walls at their interconnections. As shown, the floor 22 is raised slightly above the bottom edges of the walls to provide a hidden area for storing a spool of string 28. The spool is mounted on a rod 30 to permit its rotation when the string is withdrawn. An opening 32 is provided in one corner of the floor, through which the string 28 is threaded for use by the operator. Two lengths of string are used; one stretched longitudinally across the center of the floor, as shown at 27, and the other transversely across the center of the floor as shown at 29. The two lengths of String 27 and 29 are properly positioned by slides 34 which are held in undercut grooves 36 cut in the walls. The grooves 36, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as dovetail grooves, run vertically in the walls at the center of each inner wall face, and the slides 34, which have triangular cross sections, are received and held by the dovetail grooves. Each slide is provided with a channel 38 down its back face 40 for receiving the string which is positioned from the top of one slide, down the slide channel 38, across the floor, and up the slide channel 38 of the opposing slide. The angular inner face 42 of each slide is notched at its upper end to provide a finger grip 44 for easy removal of the slides. In preparing the box for reception of a stack of papers, a length of string 27 or 29 is obtained from the spool 28 and positioned in the channels 38 of a pair of opposed slides which are then pushed into position within their corresponding dovetail wall grooves 36. When both lengths of string 27 and 29 have been properly positioned, the ends are permitted to dangle in the box so that they are out of sight when the lid is closed. When a full stack of papers has been received in the box, the slides are removed by grasping them at their notches 44 and pulling upward. This motion pulls the ends of the strings out of the box where they are available to be tied together to complete the bundle of papers.

Since string is held in proper position at the botom of each stack of papers, they may be securely tied before lifting them from the container. Thus, it can be seen that the box provides a convenient means for storing and bundling papers, and has the dual function of use as an attractive foot rest since the paper bundling means are all hidden from View. y

A second embodiment of my invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, comprises a box similar to that shown in FIG. 1 but provided with four spring clips 50 for maintaining the position of the lengths of string. Again, the box is formed by two end walls and 12' interconnected by a front wall 14' and a rear wall 16 having a cover 18 hingedly attached thereto. A floor panel 22 is attached to the four walls near their lower edges. The spring clips 50 comprise elongated flat pieces of spring steel attached at one end by a screw 52 to the bottom of the container, and formed with a downwardly concave end 53 to receive the string. The clips are fixed to the floor 22' adjacent the center of each wall and an eye-screw 54 is attached to the top of each wall, above the spring clips, to hold the strings 27' and 29' for. access when a stack of papers has been accumulated. To bundle the papers,

the stringends are removed from the eye-screws 54 and tied together. When the bundle of papers is pulled up ward from the container, the springs bend upward and release the strings.

I claim:

1. A combination footrest and paper container, for use in stacking andtying newspapers with string, comprising:

a rectangular box having front, rear, and end walls, a

floor attached to the walls, and a removable lid for engagement with the upper portions of the walls; and

holding means comprising a plurality of slides removably held within the box for holding lengths of string against the inner walls of the box and for accurately positioning the string across the floor of the box and upward adjacent the walls, thereby making the string accessible at the upper portions of the Walls for use in tying a stack of papers.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, in which said means for holding and positioning the string comprises a plurality of slides removably held within the box, said string being held between the slides and the inner walls of the box.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1, in which the walls have grooves extending from top to bottom in their inner faces, and in which said means for positioning and holding the string comprises a plurality ofslides removably received in the grooves, and means for holding the slides in the grooves, said string being accurately positioned along the floor of the box between the lower ends of the slides, and said string being held in the grooves by the slides and thereby presented at the top of the box for tying the papers.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 3, in which said grooves are undercut and in which said slides are received in the grooves in an interfitting relation.

5. The invention asset forth in claim 4, in which each slide is provided with a string receiving channel in its back groove-engaging face and is further provided with a. finger-engageable notch in its inner face at its upper end for permitting easy removal of the slides when the papers are to be tied.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 1, in which the walls have grooves extending from top to bottom in their inner faces, and in which said means for positioning and holding the string comprises a plurality of slides adapted to be removably received in the grooves and means for holding the slides in the grooves.

7. The invention as set forth in claim 6, in which said grooves are undercut and in which said slides are received UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,142,188 6/1915 Macomber 34 2,364,518 12/1944 Clouser 10034 2,636,432 4/1953 Sherer 10034 3,145,646 8/1964 Levy 10034 3,247,782 4/1966 Foster 10034 3,382,794 5/1968 Lindholm et a1. 10034 BILLY J. WILHITE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 297-193 

